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Dylan and Adam plan to adopt a child.
This episode is written from the perspective of Adam Mathison Harper as he and Dylan Harper plan to and eventually succeed in adopting a child. They adopt two children, twins Derek and Ashley. Hard to imagine my life has taken so many turns as it did. Granted life is never easy, but I have had quite a few potholes in my life. When I was in high school and college, I had it all. I was a football star, I put Smythewood University's football team on the map, and even well before Michael Sam made it a big deal, I came out as gay. I was in love with a young man named TJ Reed, who was the editor of the University newspaper. We were different, in that I attracted the spotlight, while TJ tried to avoid being in it. He was quite shy, while I was more outgoing. But that did not matter to us. We were in love, deeply in love, but yet constant outside sources tried to bust us up. The football manager, aided and abetted by a shrew named Lana, tried to bust us up, and yet he succeeded. I went with him for a number of weeks, but my heart was always with TJ. When Steven was taken to the mental hospital, TJ and I reunited. He went with John, another friend of ours, by necessity, because of what Steven did to us. Then we went on a trip to Boston, where we met the Harpers, and for a while, I lived in Harpers Falls. TJ and I both did, and that was where we met Dylan and his then-spouse, Alex. Then, TJ moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where his family was from, and he met a guy he worked with at the newspaper he was a reporter at, and they were married in New York. They also bought a new condo in Manhattan, and they live there happily. While I was still in Smythewood, I met a former police officer named Aaron Shinn. He and I were deeply in love. We had a civil union in New Jersey, where he was from, and we then adopted, with the help of Anyssa Forson, a beautiful little girl named Rebecca. We moved back to Boston, and opened a sports bar in Cambridge. However, we missed Philadelphia, so Aaron, Rebecca and I moved back there. It was there that the worst tragedy I had ever contended with occured. I was at work, and Aaron was taking my mom and Rebecca to a doctor's appointment. It had been raining very hard that day, and on the rain-slicked freeway, a semi, which was not watching where it was going, swerved into Aaron's lane and hit him head on, slamming the car into the median wall. My mom, my adopted daughter and my lover were all killed instantly. The semi-driver was charged and convicted for vehicular homicide. He is in prison and had his commercial license revoked. But that didn't take away the pain of my loss. Mechanically, I took care of the funeral arrangements, getting the church, the funeral director and everyone taken care of there, and got Mom, Aaron and Rebecca properly buried. Then I was taking care of their possessions. The last thing I saw was Rebecca's panda bear that she slept with. I held it and cried for three hours. It was a cleansing thing, and it helped me to decide what I had to do. I give most of Rebecca's toys to Toys for Tots; got Mom's and Aaron's possessions taken care of and given away as needed; and then I decided to move back to Boston. After all, I had nothing left in Philadelphia and whatever ties I did have were gone for good. When I returned to Boston, Dylan had also been widowed. Alex had been murdered by a henchman of Libby Atchison. At first, I thought he and his best friend, Barry, were gonna be a couple, but it didn't come to pass. Barry, along with Dyl's cousin, Jennifer, were trying to match us up. Eventually, it worked. Dylan and I had dealt with similar situations, and we were drawn together because of that. I had always liked Dylan, and he is a sweet guy. We bonded and I gave him Rebecca's panda. He adores it. After a couple of years of dating and after almost losing him to his hateful former boyfriend, who had shot and killed his cousin, Mark, I finally proposed to him. He accepted and two years later on, we married at Trinity Church. His entire family was there, and were happy. Well most of them, anyway. Erica was causing a lot of grief. Then Erica hired a henchman to try to kill him, so weakening the family so she could end run around probate and take the family's fortune. The henchman was posing as Dylan's late grandfather. Thank heavens that Wendy and Michael, his parents; and Anyssa saw through him. The night he tried to shoot Dylan, I was very concerned. What was good about it was that Barry, myself, Libby (who had a huge change of heart and is now one of our best friends), Sean, his mom, Eileen, and the rest of the family rallied around Dylan and we all made fresh precautions for his safety. Dylan's cousins, Sheila and Anyssa have been on him and I to adopt a child. I had always been a bit leery to do that, because of what happened with Rebecca and I didn't want to experience losing another child. However, Sheila thinks that will help me come to grips with what happened, and she also thinks that it would be great for Dylan to understand what a joy raising a child can be. Dylan and Alex had always thought about adopting a child, and since his death, Dylan hadn't wanted to do something that he had planned with Alex. I understood that, and so did Sheila, but of late, Dylan had been thinking about it. I just got back from a lunch date with Dylan. And he surprised me. He was all right with us adopting a child. He talked with his parents and they think it would be an awesome thing for him to have a child to love. And I agree, it would be best for Dylan to be able to raise a child. And since I have had some experience with raising a child, I can be very helpful. Sheila and Anyssa are THRILLED! They are tickled pink about it. Tomorrow, we go to the adoption agency. Sheila and Allen are going with us. They think we'll be a shoo-in. Given the power and the money the Harpers wield, we'll be fine. We've decided that we want to adopt a boy. I have had experience with girls, but we think a boy would be best. That way, Sam, Bryan and Anyssa's son, will have a playmate. (Two days later) Dylan and I got back from the adoption agency. We're now the fathers of twins! YES! Twins! I should have guessed, the Harper family is known for fraternal twins. (Dylan's dad and Sheila's mom are fraternal twins, which kind of explains how close Dylan and Sheila are, if they had been born of the same mother, THEY would have been twins; their uncles, Jason and Aaron are fraternal twins; Jason's wife gave birth to fraternal twin girls.) The twins are a four year old boy and girl. Derek and Ashley Asbury. Derek and Sam hit it off well; Ashley took well to the other girls. Although Jolie has an issue with her being too girly, she likes her. Ashley and Ellie became very close like sisters. They were left alone by their no-good mother and that wicked woman made their lives a living hell in more ways than one. She beat them constantly and then one day, she got tired of taking care of the kids and dumped them in Boston Common and went on her merry way. She saw the twins as an encumberance to her party-hardy lifestyle! The grandparents were infuriated and got them into emergency care straightaway. However, when they were brought into the care system, they were told they could not be adopted out separately. Which was good, because that was one thing that Dylan made clear, since they were twins, they should not have to be separated. Also he made it clear that the twins' birth grandparents were to maintain a constant presence in their lives. It was reasonable to me, due to Dylan being a reasonable person, and everyone was pleased with the results of it, especially the grandparents. The paternal grandparents were the only ones who really cared about them aside from their late father, and it also turns out that the Asburys were old friends of Dylan's family. As I said, the father had died and their mother was just an abusive bitch! She cared nothing about the kids, except for what she could get out of them, and would beat them whenever the whim hit her, and often for no reason. She was more interested in being a partier than being a mother. She was nothing more than an incubator. For twins, they are vastly different. Derek is more shy violet and quiet, while Ashley can be a bit bombastic, mainly due to the abuse both had suffered by their mother. Derek retreated into himself and became an extreme introvert, while Ashley became an absolute extrovert. When her mother hit Derek, Ashley would get very angry and attempt to lash out at her, but she was no match for her mother. She would knock her over with ease. Also Derek is more intent on playing with dolls, which is why he and Sam get along well. Ashley can be strong-willed and opinionated but she is VERY protective of Derek. We love them both dearly. In fact, Derek's favorite doll came from Ashley herself. On their third birthday, Ashley got two dolls of the same kind, and as such she gave the other doll to Derek. Derek named the baby doll Ashley, after his sister. Ashley was touched and was honored. He and Sam get together with their dolls and play Tea Party. Derek also enjoys Courtney Sue's company. Courtney Sue gave him one of her dolls, a baby doll named Baby Alive as did Ellie and even Jolie. Jolie did not like playing with baby dolls, so whenever she gets a baby doll, she gives them to Sam and Derek. Between the two of them, Sam and Derek have a group of dolls. At the twins' adoption party, Courtney Sue, Ellie and Jolie pooled their resources and got him a doll. Derek was touched. It seems like we have a redoux of Sheila and Dylan's close kinship. It turns out that Catherine, our niece, and Derek have forged a bond similar to the one Dyl and Sheila have. It amazes me how the traits of some generations come to pass, generation unto generation. Derek and Ashley have their favorite foods. Derek really loves Mexican food. He is always hungry for tacos and things like that, while Ashley, a true daughter of New England, loves Clam Chowder! She can never get enough of it. Dyl and I always buy them what they want or need for food. The cook at Michael and Wendy's home is always giving them treats, especially when they come home from school. With Dylan and I working at Harper Industries now, we arrange it for the twins to go to Michael and Wendy's until one of us comes to get them. Sometimes, their paternal grandparents come to see them at Michael and Wendy's or they will pick them up from school. They call us when they do that, and also as a bonus, Mr. and Mrs. Asbury picks up the other kids. Most often as not, though, Aunt Victoria will pick them up at school, and she brings them to their grandparents. They stay there and play for a couple of hours until we get home. At one time, though, since Dyl and I had to work late, Anyssa had them picked up and they were at her house. The kids played for a while, and the twins had dinner there. Never ending work being parents, but when it comes down to it, the best thing for Dylan and I is when we tuck them in. I usually tuck Derek in, and Dylan tucks Ashley in (they have their own rooms), and we give them a story and then they go to sleep. Even the smallest things that the children do, they make me realize how much Dylan and I have grown as men, as people, and as parents. We mess up, no parent is perfect (I had some stuck-up snob at the twins' school tell me how PERFECT she was as a mother, and I felt embarrassed. Fortunately, Sheila overheard it, and ripped that hypocritical bitch to shreds about it), but we try. That day, Sheila was furious. That snob was bragging about her daughter, Kristine. How pretty she was, how perfect she was, and how she was gonna be the belle of the pageant circuit! Sheila was not impressed, and neither was Dylan or I. Outisde, Kristie was tormenting Ashley and teasing Derek. Kristie ought to have known better to not tease Derek; because she was messing with the wrong person! What made it worse was that Kristie's mother was egging her on, actually ENCOURAGING her to do so! Sheila, Dylan and I ran outside and tried to stop the fighting. Ashley got very angry and started beating up Kristie for it! The mother, who was egging on the bullying, started screaming that her precious darling was getting beaten! She was typical of all bullies! She acted big and bad, but when called on it, she whined and moaned about being persecuted! Sheila looked at that mother, and unleashed the true wrath of Harper on her! She told the mother how selfish she really was and how she was egging on her daughter in tormenting Derek. "Nobody does that to my nephew!" Sheila told her angrily, and then said in her COLDEST voice, "and as far as you being so perfect, I have seen perfect, I work with it everyday at my fashion house, and believe me, DARLING, you are as far from perfect as anyone could EVER be!" That day, Sheila, Dylan, our kids and I walked away from her with our heads held high! We rose above her petty jealousy. We proved we are Harpers! Needless to say, that woman and her daughter moved out of Boston soon after, because public opinion was running against them. According to Astrid McIntyre, Sheila and Dylan's second cousin, they moved to Dallas, Texas, where they are living among their own kind. The girl is racking up pageant wins like mad, and the mother is totally a complete stage-door mother. That girl is gonna suffer, I am sorry to say. Ashley is more into ballet, and she attends classes with Ellie and Maggie. Those three are friends. I so love my life, and so love my little family. I adore being a Harper and being a part of a powerful and historic family. Category:Episodes Category:Episodes from a character's view